Post #737038 by kkocka on Mon, Feb 9, 2015 10:29 PM

On 2015-02-09 18:26, wupput wrote:
But is Black Strap interchangeable with dark Jamaican? ...And then isn't there a dark Appleton? Would that be a good substitute? Any others?

Finally, I realize that Demerara rums are their own thing and that they have a different flavor profile than the dark rums. Are they in any way interchangeable? Would using dark rums in place of demerara substantially change the flavor of many drinks? What about vice versa - using a demerara instead of Coruba? I have El Dorado 5 and Hamilton's 86. I thought about trying a hurricane with Hamilton's instead of Coruba, just as an experiment, but of course good rum is valuable and I don't want to misuse it.

Blackstrap is certainly funkier than your standard dark Jamaican and I wouldn't consider it interchangeable unless there are a good many ingredients in a drink to where you wouldn't notice the swap as much. If a drink has maybe 5ish ingredients, you'll definitely notice it. Lots of people don't care for the taste, but I don't mind it when it's used in recipes it was made for, etc. You can make a Jet Pilot with it and notice the drink is a bit spicier than if it was just made with a dark rum, though the taste wouldn't be a complete 180 from what you would be used to.

I haven't seen any dark Appleton and am not sure if it's made anymore. Now lots of people will sub a dark Jamaican with Appleton V/X (Jamaican still, but can be considered gold/amber/aged) and you'll lose the more recognizable moleasses taste of the dark (say Coruba) though it makes a fine drink still. Honestly if you can get Coruba Dark easily then you're a lucky one. I love the hell out of that stuff but Myers's is the common one around here. I find Myers's is a bit more on the lighter fuel side, where Coruba is a bit richer and doesn't taste like it should be set on fire.

Demerara is certainly it's own thing. In using it instead of dark rum, I would liken it to the Appleton swap - it won't completely change things 180, but you'll certainly lose that signature dark taste that something like Coruba does so well. I could be wrong but it might be safe to say that demerara rum is more...dry? Smokier? At any rate, you can be a little more lenient with your rums and if something isn't exactly to recipe then that's okay. You might unlock a great flavor profile that you prefer or just enjoy a different outcome. That's why people love the mai tai so much, because it lends itself opengly to a ton of rum pairings.